Viewing apparatus

ABSTRACT

The invention relates to a viewing apparatus having a housing having a front wall and a rear wall. The front wall has at least one viewing opening for viewing a flat object situated on an object carrier inside the housing. The front and rear walls are connected to one another along two opposite connecting lines and have bending lines such that the housing can be set up from a rest position, in which the front and rear walls lie flat against one another, into a viewing position in which the front and rear walls are arranged so that they can be spaced apart from one another. The resulting that the housing has a box-shaped design with a forward wall, a rearward wall and two side walls, and wherein the object carrier is firmly connected, only at its first end, to the front wall or the rear wall and has a width which is greater than the width of the forward wall but smaller than the width of the front wall. When the housing is in the viewing position, the object carrier has a surface which is curved towards the rearward wall.

The invention relates to a viewing apparatus with a housing having a front wall and a rear wall, the front wall having at least one viewing opening for viewing a flat object on an object support, located in the interior of the housing.

Such a viewing apparatus is disclosed, for example, in the German patent application number 10 2005 056 873.4, which is not a prior publication. In the viewing apparatus disclosed in said patent application, the front and rear walls are connected to each other along two opposing connecting lines and in each case have a kink line at a prescribed distance from the connecting lines such that the housing can be erected from a rest position, in which the front and rear walls lie flat against each other, into a viewing position, in which the front and rear walls are arranged such that they can be spaced apart from each other. As a result of this, in the viewing position, the housing has a box-shaped design with a substantially rectangular cross section and is surrounded by a wall at the front, a wall at the rear and two side walls. A first end of the object support is fixedly connected to a side wall of the housing, while its opposing second end freely projects into the housing in the rest position of the latter. Furthermore, the object support has a width which is greater than the width of the wall at the front, but less than the width of the front wall so that, in the viewing position of the housing, said object support has a surface which is arched toward the wall at the rear.

In the case of the viewing apparatus described above, it was found to be disadvantageous that when the object support was connected to the side wall of the housing, the latter did not remain stably in the viewing position unless the opening aid provided for this apparatus was held in an outwardly oriented position or connected to the rear wall of the housing, for example by means of a hook and loop fastener.

The present invention is based on the object of specifying a viewing apparatus which has a design which is as flat as possible in its rest position and which can be changed into a reproducible viewing position in a simple manner, the viewing apparatus remaining in this position without the use of additional parts.

According to the invention, this object is achieved by the features of claim 1. Additional, particularly advantageous refinements of the invention are disclosed in the dependent claims.

The invention is basically based on the idea of not connecting the object support to a side wall of the housing, but rather fixedly connecting it to the housing in the region of a connecting line between the front and/or rear wall, to be precise in the region of that connecting line which laterally delimits the wall at the front in the viewing position.

The effect of this measure is that when the housing is erected by exerting a lateral pressure onto the connecting lines, the region of the object support facing the second end firstly rests against the wall at the rear on the inside, in order to then, with its free second end, glide along the adjacent side wall into the kink line which is provided in the front wall and delimits the corresponding side wall. In the process, the central region of the object support is supported by the central wall region of the wall at the rear and holds the housing in its viewing position (assuming a corresponding stiffness of the object support), without an additional opening aid being required to fix the housing in its viewing position.

In order to ensure secure gliding of the free end of the object support along the adjacent side wall region during the opening and closing process of the viewing apparatus, it was found to be expedient for the free second end of the object support to be designed to glide correspondingly well.

By way of example, this can be effected by rounding off the second end of the object support, by a plastic coating or by a folding edge. As long as the folding edge is selected such that the folded over region points toward the wall at the front, the folding edge can simultaneously be used to guide and hold the object to be supported by the object support.

The material for the housing and/or the object support can be both board (cardboard) and plastics, but an appropriately suitable metal can also be used. It is also possible to have material combinations of rigid and flexible, opaque and transparent materials (e.g. cardboard laminated with transparent film) which are connected to one another by adhesive bonding, for example.

The object support can also be the object itself. In the process, not only images (photographs, etc.) but also a display consisting of LCD elements, an organic display or a display consisting of electronic paper are possible objects.

In the case of a viewing apparatus, which can be used as a cellular phone, for example, it was found to be particularly advantageous if the wall at the front and/or rear of the viewing apparatus comprises an outwardly arched surface so that the apparatus can easily be grasped by the respective user in both the rest position and viewing position of the housing.

It is also possible, particularly for advertising measures, for the viewing apparatus to be designed such that the rear wall is designed as a packaging container which has sufficient space for an additional flat object (e.g. a CD or an additional image).

It goes without saying that, in addition to the front wall, the rear wall can also comprise at least one viewing opening and the object support can be used to arrange an object on both its side facing the front wall and also its side facing the rear wall.

For faster opening and/or erection of the viewing apparatus into its viewing position, an opening aid can be attached to the wall region of the front wall forming the side wall and said opening aid can be pivoted from a closed position, in which it at least partly covers the front wall on the outside, to an opened position, in which the side wall is erected.

Further details and advantages of the invention emerge from the following exemplary embodiments which are explained on the basis of the figures, in which:

FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of a first exemplary embodiment of a viewing apparatus according to the invention, in which the housing is in its viewing position;

FIGS. 2-5 show plan views of the exemplary embodiment illustrated in FIG. 1, the housing being pushed manually from its rest position (FIG. 2) into its viewing position via intermediate positions (FIGS. 3 and 4);

FIG. 6 shows a plan view, corresponding to FIG. 5, of a second exemplary embodiment of a viewing apparatus according to the invention;

FIG. 7 shows a cross section through a third exemplary embodiment of a viewing apparatus according to the invention; and

FIGS. 8 and 9 show two perspective views of a fourth exemplary embodiment of the invention, the viewing apparatus being provided with an opening aid.

In FIGS. 1-5, 1 designates a viewing apparatus according to the invention, which basically consists of a housing 4 (FIG. 2) having a front wall 2 and a rear wall 3, the front wall 2 having a viewing opening 5 for viewing an image (not illustrated) on a separate object support 6, located in the interior of the housing 4.

The front and rear walls 2 and 3 are connected to each other along two opposing connecting lines 7, 8. Furthermore, kink lines 9, 10 are respectively arranged at a prescribed distance from the connecting lines 7, 8 such that the housing 4 can be erected from a rest position, in which the front and rear walls 2, 3 lie flat against each other (FIG. 2), into a viewing position, in which the front and rear walls 2, 3 are arranged such that they can be spaced apart from each other, so that the housing 4 has a box-shaped design with basically a rectangular cross section and is surrounded by a wall at the front 11, a wall at the rear 12, and two side walls 13, 14.

The width of the object support 6 is selected such that although it is greater than the width of the wall at the front 11, it is slightly less than the width of the front wall 2, so that, in the viewing position of the housing 4, the object support 6 has a surface which is arched toward the wall at the rear 12. As a result, the image located on the object support 6 is also arched correspondingly and conveys a spatial impression to an observer looking through the viewing opening 5 of the wall at the front 11.

According to the invention, provision is now made for the first end 15 of the object support 6 to be fixedly connected to the front wall 2 and/or the rear wall 3 of the viewing apparatus 1 in the region of the connecting line 7 which laterally delimits the wall at the front 11 in the viewing position. By contrast, the second end 16 of the object support 6 freely projects into the housing 4 in the rest position of the latter.

The erection process of the viewing apparatus 1 according to the invention can be gathered directly from FIGS. 2-5: pressure, for example using two fingers of a hand, is exerted on the connecting lines 7 and 8 on the housing 4 (FIG. 2), initially in its rest position; this is indicated in FIGS. 2-4 by corresponding arrows.

This results in the side walls 13, 14 being erected and the formation of the box-shaped housing 4. In the process, the object support 6 is firstly pressed against the wall at the rear 12 which is being formed (FIG. 3).

If the side walls 13, 14 are now pushed slightly beyond their perpendicular position with respect to the walls at the front and rear 11, 12 (FIG. 4), the free second end 16 of the object support 6 glides along the side wall 14 into the front left corner of the housing 4 (viewing position of the object support) defined by the kink line 10. At the same time, the central region 18 of the object support 6 is supported by the wall at the rear 12.

If no further pressure is subsequently exerted on the side walls 13, 14, the housing 4 is pushed back into its position illustrated in FIG. 3 by the prestressed object support 6, the object support 6 then remaining in the viewing position (FIGS. 5 and 1).

If the housing 4 of the viewing apparatus 1 is intended to be brought back into its rest position, it is only necessary to apply slight pressure onto the two corners defined by the kink lines 9 and 10, labeled in FIG. 5 by the dashed arrows. As a result of the oblique positioning of the side wall 14, the second end 16 of the object support 6 then glides along the side wall 14, from the front left corner defined by the kink line 10, back into the back left corner defined by the connecting line 8, and the object support 6 relaxes during this process.

So that the free second end 16 of the object support 6 can glide along the side wall 14 without problems, it is provided with a folding edge 21 which at the same time serves as a holder for an object (e.g. a photograph).

As can be gathered directly from FIGS. 2-5, the entire viewing apparatus 1 including the object support 6 can advantageously be produced in a simple manner by folding an appropriate blank of, for example, cardboard, plastic foil, etc. After the folding process, it is only necessary to connect, in a force fitting manner, the (right) end region 22 of the blank adjoining the wall at the front 11 to the side wall 13.

It goes without saying that the invention is not restricted to the illustrated exemplary embodiment. Thus, FIG. 6 shows an exemplary embodiment of the invention in which the viewing apparatus 1 has a rear wall 3 with a cavity 23 with space for an additional flat object (e.g. a CD, a coin, indicia and tokens, etc.) 24.

In the case of a viewing apparatus which can be used, for example, as a housing 4 for a cellular phone, it was found to be particularly advantageous if the wall at the front and rear 11 and 12 of the viewing apparatus 1 had an outwardly arched surface, as illustrated schematically in FIG. 7, so that the apparatus can easily be grasped by a user.

Furthermore, an opening aid can be attached to the wall region of the front wall 2 forming the side wall 14 and said opening aid can be pivoted from a closed position, in which it at least partly covers the front wall on the outside, to an opened position, in which the side wall is erected. FIGS. 8 and 9 show a corresponding exemplary embodiment.

By using the opening aid 25, both reproducibly erecting the housing 4 and increasing the stability of the viewing apparatus 1 in the viewing position of the housing 4 are achieved.

LIST OF REFERENCE SYMBOLS

-   1 Viewing apparatus(es) -   2 Front wall -   3 Rear wall -   4 Housing -   5 Viewing opening -   6 Object support, image support -   7, 8 Connecting lines -   9, 10 Kink lines -   11 Wall at the front -   12 Wall at the rear -   13, 14 Side walls -   15 First end -   16 Second end -   18 Central region -   21 Folding edge -   22 End region -   23 Cavity -   24 Object -   25 Opening aid 

1. A viewing apparatus with a housing having a front wall and a rear wall, the front wall having at least one viewing opening for viewing a flat object on an object support, located in the interior of the housing, and the front and rear walls being connected to each other along two opposing connecting lines and in each case having a kink line at a prescribed distance from the connecting lines such that the housing can be erected from a rest position, in which the front and rear walls lie flat against each other, into a viewing position, in which the front and rear walls are arranged such that they can be spaced apart from each other, so that the housing has a box-shaped design with a wall at the front, a wall at the rear and two side walls, and in which the object support is fixedly connected to the front wall or the rear wall only at its first end and has a width which is greater than the width of the wall at the front, but less than the width of the front wall so that, in the viewing position of the housing, the object support has a surface which is arched toward the wall at the rear, wherein the object support is fixedly connected to the front wall and/or rear wall of the viewing apparatus in the region of that connecting line which laterally delimits the wall at the front in the viewing position of the housing.
 2. The viewing apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the second end of the object support is provided with an edge which glides well along the adjacent side wall of the housing.
 3. The viewing apparatus as claimed in claim 2, wherein the second end of the object support is designed as a folding edge.
 4. The viewing apparatus as claimed in claim 3, wherein the folded over region of the folding edge is folded toward the wall at the front.
 5. The viewing apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the material of the housing and/or the object support comprises cardboard, cardboard laminated with transparent film, or plastics.
 6. The viewing apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the object support is a display consisting of LCD elements, an organic display or a display consisting of electronic paper.
 7. The viewing apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the wall at the front and/or the wall at the rear of the viewing apparatus comprise an outwardly arched surface.
 8. The viewing apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the viewing apparatus has a wall at the rear, designed as a cavity, for an additional object.
 9. The viewing apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein an opening aid is attached to the wall region of the front wall forming the side wall and said opening aid can be pivoted from a closed position, in which it at least partly covers the front wall on the outside, to an opened position, in which the side wall is erected. 